The New Crew
by Rae the demiQuing
Summary: A strange pod crashes on Earth and inside is not one alien, but two. The youngest of them unwittingly brings back bad memories thanks to being born a certain species. But he's so sweet and such a cutie! His supposed "big sister" might be frightening at times, but she's actually pretty nice too. Only... why are they on Earth? What in the world happened to them? Eventual Piccolo x OC
1. Chapter 1

**The New Crew**

**Chapter One**

**I really should be working on one of my other stories instead of posting another new one... But I honestly could care less. I've got a whole week of doing nothing to work on them. For anyone who follows any of my other stories, expect an update sometime this week. For people just checking out this new story, I don't update very often. Once or maybe twice a month is all I can push myself to do. ****If you're new to me and my stories, I encourage you to check them out! I've got several different categories, so I'm sure you'll find one that you like. **

**This happens to be my first Dragonball story. I've had this idea in my head for like, forever. I shared my OC ideas for it with Turbo K1000, and they heavily encouraged me to post it. Actually, heavily encouraged is an understatement. They were almost ready to kidnap me and tie me in front of the computer, I swear. ^^"**

**But I'm glad that they were so supportive of this story, because I was really nervous about it. As the summary says, this will eventually have a Piccolo x OC pairing. Don't expect anything graphic. I mean, seriously! I'm just a teenager here! I may _know_ about that stuff, but no way in spraint am I writing it. Also, that will be a long ways into the future. I hope you enjoy! This is unbetaed and therefore any mistakes are mine alone, and I would appreciate if you could point them out to me so I could fix them.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own! But if I did, Namekians would have genders. I mean, has anyone ever wondered what a girl Namekian would look like? 0-o**

* * *

No Specific P.o.V.

Chichi sighed as she watched her husband and two sons training on the front lawn. At the moment her sons, Gohan and Goten, were sparring against Goku, their father.

She'd never approved of Gohan learning to fight, but had simply given up after the Saiyan 'invasion'. She briefly wondered if only two people could be considered an invasion force, even as powerful as they were. To get back to matters at hand, she had to completely give up having a nonviolent child after Goten had met Trunks.

The two were always together and even if she had managed to keep Goku from training Goten, Trunks would have ended up showing him what he'd learned from his own father Vegeta. Who, coincidentally, happened to have been one of the Saiyan invaders.

Out of nowhere, interrupting the males' training and Chichi's completely random thought pattern, a loud rumble filled the air. Any normal person would have run, assuming that it was some sort of monster or disaster. However, such sounds were common in the Son household.

Gohan paused and scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin.

"Heh heh... Didn't think I was that hungry yet." His brother and father laughed at him as Chichi shook her head and went inside to make lunch. Their laughter stopped when there was a slightly smaller rumble followed by an even bigger one that dwarfed the previous two combined.

"Guess we're all hungry!" Goku grinned, not embarrassed in the least.

"Hey Dad, can I go ask if Trunks can come over for lunch?" Goten asked hopefully. "And maybe he can train with us after?"

"It's fine by me, just go and ask Chichi first!" The boy smiled wide and ran inside. A few minutes later he burst out of the house at a run and flew into the air. He turned around slightly on his way, just enough to give a small wave before zooming off.

Goku stretched, talking to Gohan and laughing at something he said. The odd family had no idea of a small event happening at that exact same time that would change many lives, including theirs.

Whether it would be for worse or for the better was still to be decided.

* * *

A small pod shot across space at mindboggling speeds, the occupants oblivious to all around them.

Inside were two beings. One was a woman dressed in strange styled clothes, a long tail with a black tuft of long fur twitching now and then. A small golden band wrapped around its tip. The other was a strange creature, much smaller than the woman and obviously a young child.

Both were relaxed with their eyes closed and their breathing slow and even as if asleep. The kid lay curled up on the woman's lap, while her arms cradled him protectively.

The woman looked as if she'd been roughed up with her black hair messed up and her clothes ripped and torn in some places. The child had a slightly worried crease in his forehead accompanied by a small frown, while a thick tail curled up around the woman's leg as if trying to make sure she was still there.

There was a small warning beep from the small console of the ship and a few minutes later the two began to stir. The woman twitched and her eyelids cracked open. Two ocean blue eyes blearily wandered around the tiny craft until they settled on the creature on her lap.

She stared confusedly until the fog lifted from her mind at the same time as her sensitive nose was hit with the smell of strong chemicals.

"_Fl__e!_" She cursed as she jerked up from her slouched position. _It can't be..? These chemicals are used to put people into suspended animation, but...! No.. No no no... Not again, not again!_ She was immediately drawn to the creature yawning widely and looking up at her, royal purple eyes half lidded with sleep.

"Vera', what's wrong?" His voice was soft and tired. The woman grimaced at what she would have to tell the child. She took a deep breath before saying anything.

"I... _we_, everyone, forgot about the suspended animation feature for long term distances in the emergency pods..." Her face slowly fell with sorrow and fear.

"Wha..? Vera', what do you mean?" The kid's eyes widened with concern for his only family. He never liked seeing her cry, she wasn't supposed to be sad. She was supposed to be smiling and happy!

"'Byte..." She hugged him close as she teared up. "It means that we could've been asleep... long enough that after all that happened... Tesh..." She couldn't finish, couldn't say it. She'd already lost one planet, she didn't want to think of losing yet another. The child gasped in comprehension as tears gathered in his own eyes.

"You mean..." His lip trembled as the tears threatened to pour. "Planet Tesh might be gone?" The woman hesitated, wondering whether it was a good idea to tell him, but nodded. Lying or keeping secrets at this point would only end in trouble.

He gasped again as the tears finally trickled down, quickly turning into a miniature waterfall as he shook with the force of his sobs.

The two hugged each other tight as they both mourned, the child clutching her desperately as he keened and cried out. He'd never really had many good friends, but he had cared for each and every Teshyon he knew, including the other species that lived on the planet.

The woman cried silently, but with no less sorrow. Losing everything had been hard enough the first time, but she had never really cared for anyone. That was the kind of person she was before, uncaring. The second time though, this time, she had had friends. Actual friends, who cared about her and loved her and she did the same in return.

She was so caught up in her thoughts and emotions that she failed to notice the kid slowly stop his crying and watch her. He frowned at seeing the tears dripping down her face. His childlike mind and innocence told him that if someone was sad, someone else had to cheer them up.

After all, she was always making _him_ feel better if he was sad. Now it would be his turn!

The woman blinked in surprise when he clumsily wiped some of her tears away and gave her a blindingly white smile. It was obvious that he was still sad himself, and she felt grateful that he cared enough for her that he, as young as he was, could put aside his own sorrow just to try and cheer her up.

"It'll be okay!" He said with that solemn naivety that only a child could achieve. "After all, we don't really know!"

She mustered up a smile for him and hugged him tight again. "Yeah. We don't do we?" She whispered as he hugged back.

It took a while for them to fully shake the gloom of the situation, but his small words had given them hope. Even if that hope was small and extremely unlikely, it was there. The woman had another goal to keep her going. She had realized that unlike last time, she could not spend time grieving. The child needed her, and she would always protect him.

With a new determination she adjusted the creature so that she could access the control console and starting examining their situation.

"What're you doing Vera'?" He inquired with a curious look at the screen as various stats and numbers flew by.

"I'm nowhere near as smart as a Teshyon, but I can at least figure out a few things." She replied without even looking away from what she was doing. "From what I can tell we've been in suspended animation for... um, well... Happy Birthday."

The child's jaw dropped comically as he stared at the screen, trying to make sense of the data streaming across it. "We've been asleep for three months?!" He had immediately put two and two together. Like any kid he kept perfect track of how long it was until his birthday, or any celebration, would arrive.

"Yep. Kind of funny how we woke up on your birthday." She chuckled at his dumbstruck look. "Wish I had something for you."

"Na, it's okay." He chirped, he knew now was not a time to be greedy. "What else?" He also knew from experience that she never found just one or two things.

"We traveled a lot, so we're really far from home. With all that was going on when we left, it's not a good idea to do anything about heading back until we hear something from Technon. He's more than capable of locating the pod's personal beacon and remotely overriding the suspended animation function, so we can be sure that... they're still fighting." She piled on the information, clinging to the hope that the only reason they weren't contacted so far was because the planet was still under siege from the planetary conquerors.

The child didn't look at the screen as she spoke, knowing seeing the numbers would have only confused him further. Kids his age would normally not understand anything from what she had just said, but growing up among the incredibly advanced Teshyon people meant that even if he did not understand all of it he got the main gist of things.

"So... we can't go back yet." He clarified.

"Yes. Now, the _reason_ we came out of suspended animation is because we had the bad luck to choose a pod that wasn't fully ready. The chemicals that put us into suspended animation ran out. Luckily we have enough fuel to at least get us to a planet with supplies."

"So, we it ran out and we're almost out of gas. Oh, an we need to get food too." His stomach growled as if in agreement.

She chuckled. "Yup. I remember this solar system from my studies. It's a part of the Milky Way galaxy and it's void of life. But! There's another solar system nearby with a very lush planet called Earth. This place, it's so fertile that it's amazing nobody's ever tried to pillage it." Her voice faltered at the mention of not only her species' way of making a living, but the reason they had been forced to retreat from Planet Tesh in the first place. "I've heard about this planet though, apparently it's got several powerful warriors protecting it. I just hope that they don't think we're enemies..."

A large snarl suddenly interrupted her words and a crimson blush covered her face. The kid burst into laughter.

"Looks like you're hungry too, Vera'!" He laughed.

"Yeah!" She laughed too and muttered under her breath. "_Fleth_ my Saiyan appetite..." The child, hearing her curse, just giggled more.

* * *

**So! There's the intro. I decided to try writing in this P.o.V. because it's not my specialty, and I needed to try and get used to writing in it. I feel as if everything is really stiff... But I tried my best! From both the summary and what you've read you can know that "Vera'" is a Saiyan. From the summary you also know that "'Byte" is an Arcosian. For those who don't know, an Arcosian is what Freiza, Kooler, and King Kold's species is called.**

**Is that considered a spoiler? I don't really think so. So, I'd like to know what you guys think of Vera' and 'Byte. Yes, those are just nicknames they've given each other. Before anyone thinks it, Vera' is not his adopted mom! Sure their relationship is more mother/son, but they actually consider themselves brother/sister.**

**Again, I keep getting this feeling that my writing is really stiff in this... I don't know why. Please, read and review and tell me what you think! Flames will be used to power the emergency pod's engines as I laugh evilly at their flame-y pointlessness!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The New Crew**

**Chapter Two**

**Okay, so here's the deal. I wasn't able to post this story on FF until recently and so I already had the second chapter up and published on DeviantART. I'm only just now posting this second chapter because... Well, long story. To put it shortly: life sucks. Please enjoy though! Don't expect updates really fast, my usual posting method is once per month per story. Because I have a lot of stories. A lot.**

* * *

Gohan's P.o.V.

A Few Days Later...

It was a normal day. But then again, isn't that how most things start? With a perfectly unassuming beginning? Well, we all know what they say about assuming...

Anyways, the day _had_ been pretty regular. I went to school, I helped in a few simple robberies and stopped a small fire from spreading to an entire block as The Great Saiyaman, did a few projects for my classes, avoided a few girls asking me out(Seriously, it wasn't like me and Videl were even hiding that we were dating!), and headed home. Once at home, again it was average. I did my homework as fast as possible, had a quick spar with my dad, showed Goten a few moves to practice, and then my mom called the magic words!

"Dinner!"

I always felt a little guilty that my mom had to work so hard to make so much food for _three_ Saiyan appetites, but she always assured us that she was fine and not to worry about it. We still did worry about it, but not while eating. We couldn't exactly help it, her cooking was amazing!

As we ate, today I talked to my mom about the college I wanted to go to. Or, more specifically, the _type_ of college I wanted to go to. I was trying to convince my mom to let me take online courses. So far I wasn't making much progress.

It was all going right over my dad and Goten's heads, so they just focused on eating and looked up from their plates now and then at each other with confused looks.

"Gohan? Gohan! Are you even listening to me?" My mom said with a frown. I had stiffened and was staring unseeingly with my fork on its way to my mouth. At first she was slightly annoyed and then a little worried until she noticed that my dad and Goten were the same way.

"Do you feel that?" My dad came out of his own frozen position with excitement showing in his large grin(which was soon hidden by more food).

"Yeah!" Goten cheered.

"What is it?" My mom asked as she looked carefully at us.

"There are two power levels approaching Earth, probably in a ship. One is a lot stronger than a normal human but could still be taken down Goten. The other is maybe three times as strong as a human, again still no match against any of the Z Fighters, but there's something... _off_ about their Ki. It's... almost like it's _there_, but _not_ there..." I trailed off and frowned, unsure if I had correctly explained the feel of the strange Ki.

"We should probably check it out!" My dad said purposefully with puppy-dog eyes to my mom.

She pursed her lips and looked at me. I could practically hear her thoughts on how this would affect my studying. I gave her the most innocent, hopeful look I could muster. "Be back before six, and no wasting time goofing around!" She finally said.

"Thanks mom!" Goten and my dad were already gone, flying faster than the normal eye can see. I quickly joined them and we all flew to the point where the energy was entering the atmosphere. After flying for a few minutes, we cam upon Krillen flying in the same direction.

"You guys felt it too huh?" He called as he flew up and waved.

"Yeah! I wonder who else will show up to check it out..." My dad wondered out loud.

As it turned out, Vegeta, Bulma, and Trunks were coming to check it out too. Bulma mainly because she was interested in the ship's technology, and Vegeta and Trunks because apparently Vegeta was bored and wanted his 'lazy' son to get out and actually do something. Bulma flew her helicopter, while her son and husband flew.

It wasn't too much longer before we could see the faint streak in the sky of a small ship burning as it entered the atmosphere. We watched as it crashed into a desert-like plain, going through a mesa and bouncing off a small mountain before finally coming to a stop at the end of a long crater. We landed a short ways away and Bulma parked her helicopter before running over to join us.

The craft wasn't the same orb-like structure as the Saiyan's, though it was pretty much the same in size. Instead it was a smooth surfaced, light green oval, with no windows or outer features besides a few small fins meant for stable flight.

The light green split and a few metal bars extended from the ship. The ship had landed on its long side, and now the metal bars pushed it to an upright position. I could see that the person inside the ship would be sitting upright, with little to no room for an additional passenger. A second time the smooth metal separated and this time the outline of a door was formed in the middle of the oval. The metal of the door pulled outwards and folded down into a small set of stairs.

A figure stood in the shadow of the door in a defensive crouch, and I could feel a set of eyes watching us as we slowly came close enough to speak.

"Hi!" I mentally facepalmed at my dad's friendly greeting. Seriously, sometimes I wonder if he even knows what the word 'cautious' means... You know what, I probably don't even want to know.

The figure tilted its head in obvious confusion. "...Hi?" It was a female voice and I could hear light curiosity in it.

"My name's Goku!" Now it was getting really awkward, especially since they had to slightly shout in order to be heard.

"My name..." She paused as if wondering whether to tell us or not. "...Is Verakbee."

"It's nice to meet you Veratknee!" I actually _did_ facepalm at how my dad misheard her name. "You know, we'd kinda like to know what you're doing here on Earth! That's the name of this planet, in case you didn't know. Because if you're here to do crimes and stuff-" Seriously? Do crimes and stuff? I sighed and shook my head in embarrassment, tempted to hide my face in my hands.

"No no! I'm here because my craft was out of fuel, and I've also been looking for a peaceful planet to stay on for... a while." She relaxed slightly but stayed in her crouch.

"Oh, great! That's good! Because if you were here to fight, we're pretty strong fighters and all so we'd be glad to fight for fun but if you're here to do bad things then-"

"Oh shut it Kakarot!" Vegeta was apparently just as annoyed by my dad's bumbling words as I was.

There was a small angry flare in the person's Ki and a snarl. "_Prince Vegeta?!_"

Vegeta's eyes narrowed. "Do I know you?"

"No, but any Saiyan worth their _tail_ knows you." With that she stepped out of the shadow. She was a woman with long black hair reaching down a short ways below her shoulders and she had rich blue eyes with heavy eyelashes. Her clothes were really strange, with each part of the cloth sowed together being a different color. There were no patters, just solid colors of a vibrant green and light sky blue.

She wore a strange tank top with its strings fastened by a golden band around her neck, and a strange pair of sleeves were connected only by another golden ring to the shirt. There was a small pair of shorts with a golden colored belt around her waist, I'm fairly sure it was made out of interlocking pieces of metal instead of being a solid ring. Elbow-length fingerless gloves covered her forearms and her surprisingly delicate looking feet were held tightly into a pair of heels using an intricate array of colored straps.

The most important detail, however, was the long tail that was flicking back and forth angrily. It was different than any tail I'd ever seen on a Saiyan before; it was longer, for one thing. It nearly touched the ground when extended. The tip of the tail was black with long fur. What really caught my eye was a small golden band wrapped around its tip, for some reason it felt different than the other golden rings she wore.

"Another Saiyan?!" Krillen yelled in surprise. Way to go with stating the obvious.

"Cool!" trunks and Goten cheered.

"Well that was unexpected!" My dad said cheerfully.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed more. He was staring at her tail, at the golden ring circling it. "A DeathTail?!" He snarled, hands tightening into fists as his muscles tensed.

Verakbee's eyes narrowed as well. "Yes," Was her simple answer.

"Woah there, we don't _need _to fight!" My dad was in front of Vegeta holding his hands up in warning. "Now, she said she was looking for a planet to live on, a _peaceful_ planet!"

"You'd do better trusting _Freiza_ than a DeathTail!" Vegeta growled.

"What's a DeathTail?" Krillen asked, confused.

"DeathTails were the most dishonorable Saiyans, lying and sabotaging their way through the ranks! They were given their own separate division within the soldiers and would take order from no one except the king. Even then they rarely followed them! They were all women who distrusted men, they never mated or bore children and they would ignore any messengers sent to them if they weren't female."

The whole time he spoke I could see her grow angrier and angrier. Luckily, before she snapped Goten spoke up excitedly.

"So you're like a secret agent?!"

"Like from a secret organization?!" Trunks added, just as excited. Vegeta glared at him but he didn't seem to notice.

"Wait, like a spy?" Krillen added in curiously.

Like magic her anger disappeared as soon as she heard the tow children's voices. She straightened up from he stance cautiously.

"A spy.. I suppose you could say that..." A soft smile played on her lips.

"Hey, can we come a little closer? You know, just so we don't have to shout?" I asked carefully.

She looked us over carefully before nodding slowly. We walked carefully over to her ship and stopped about ten feet away.

"Who's the other person with you?"

Just like that, Krillen's innocent question caused her to go straight back into her defensive position. This time though, her face was far more serious and she looked extremely cautious. For a brief second, I though I saw a hint of fear in her eyes.

"No need to panic," Bulma said soothingly. "How about we introduce ourselves first? I'm Bulma Briefs and this is Trunks, mine and Vegeta's son." She put her hands on Trunks's shoulders with a calm smile.

Like it was most likely intended to, Bulma's calm attitude seemed to calm her down somewhat.

"My name's Krillen," He smiled at her reassuringly.

"I'm Son Goku! These are my sons, Gohan and Goten." My dad smiled brightly and waved at her.

"As I already told you, my name is Verakbee. But... before, my Saiyan name was Stayla." She still looked suspicious. "As for the one who's traveling with me... he is young. He's still a child and knows _nothing_ of what his kind has done. Before I allow you to see him you need to _swear_ you won't harm him for what his species is." Her eyes narrowed again as she examined us.

"Of course not! _Right_ Vegeta?" Bulma gave her husband a glare. Everyone turned to him expectantly.

"Hmph! Fine!" He scowled and crossed his arms.

Verakbee exhaled shakily and we watched her turn around and bend over slightly. Her tail curved around her leg, seeming to show her nervousness with the little flicks it gave off. There was a faint mumbling sound as she spoke softly, then movement behind her legs.

She turned around again, watching us carefully. There was a small figure huddled behind her that barely reached her hip. A tiny yellow colored hand held onto hers tightly. She slowly pulled the hand until the person stepped out from behind her.

There were loud gasps, but none compared to the large snarl that ripped its way from Vegeta. Then, the loud thunderclap of a powerful object hitting another.

* * *

**MWAHAHA! Evil cliffy! What just happened?! What is the little creature-oh wait, you guys already know that! 8D Please tell me what you guys think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**The New Crew **

**Chapter Three**

**Ugh, I was just 45 words away from my 2,000 words per chapter minimum! But I figured you guys had waited long enough, and you wouldn't want to wait even _longer_. So, here you go! Chapter Three of The New Crew!**

**Thank you crystal dragon(guest) and the three anonymous guests for reviewing last chapter!**

**I own nothing except Verabee, FrohstByte, and the idea for this story. Trust me, the characters would NOT be happy if I owned Dragonball. :3 I'd be EVIL MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *choke***

* * *

No One's P.o.V.

Gasps echoed all around as Goku collided with Vegeta midair. The small creature yelped and whimpered, bolting behind the female Saiyan again.

"You say that _DeathTails_ are _dishonorable_, but you break an oath _seconds_ after _making it?!" _She shrieked in anger.

"Vegeta!" Goku yelled. "Calm down! You just said you wouldn't attack him!"

He wrestled with the Saiyan prince for a few seconds before Vegeta's sense of honor apparently caught up with him. He paused and glared at Goku until he was cautiously let go.

"_Vegeta_," Bulma didn't even raise her voice and yet her's was the one that affected him the most. He glared stiffly at the two strangers but didn't make another move. "I'm _really_ sorry for him, I hope he's not too scared?" Now Bulma's words were calmer, more soothing.

The creature was still huddled fearfully behind Verakbee after Vegeta's reaction. Verakbee herself was crouched in a defensive posture with a deadly calm expression. Something didn't feel right about it. She felt _too_ calm, too still.

And what was it that had caused such a reaction? The small alien was terrifyingly familiar.

Sure the colors were wrong, yellow instead of white and a dark crimson instead of purple, the horns were wrong too. They were small nubs angled backwards instead of straight out.

While all that may have been different, he still looked exactly like a miniature version of the base form of a certain evil ruler.

Freiza.

"He's fine." She ground out. "Now we'll just take our leave, it's obvious we aren't welcome."

"Wait! That's not it, we were just taken by surprise is all." Bulma placated.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want to hurt either of you." Gohan said kindly as Krillen glanced at Vegeta as if to say 'At least _most_ of us'.

The young alien whimpered slightly and a pair of large, innocent dark purple eyes peeped out from behind her legs. There was silence for a few tense moments, no one daring to make a move as the Saiyan carefully looked each of them over.

Goten and Trunks suddenly gave each other similar looks.

"What's your name?" Goten asked with a big smile.

"F-FrohstByte..." He whispered, obviously still scared. Verakbee didn't seem too distrustful of Goten and Trunks, probably because they were children, so nobody made a move as they watched them interact.

"That's a cool name!" Trunks smiled, again not noticing his father give him an angry glare.

"My name's Goten! This is Trunks," Goten snickered. "He's named after swimming trunks." Despite most likely not knowing what they were, the kid still giggled a little at Trunks's annoyed 'Hey!'.

Since Verakbee seemed to calm down watching her charge, Bulma decided to ask her something.

"Verakbee, why don't you two stay on Earth?" Everyone looked at her, Vegeta looking like he was about to explode. "It's a very peaceful planet, after all we've got a lot of pretty powerful fighters protecting it! I can tell you and Vegeta won't get along very well but it's a whole planet, you'll be able to avoid each other. I can help you settle down somewhere and get used to how things go on Earth, or if you do plan on leaving I can have your ship refueled and you can go."

She narrowed her eyes at Vegeta, but FrohstByte nudged her. She looked down at him immediately and the child said something in a language that sounded like a series of clicks and the whistles. She seemed surprised, then looked up at Vegeta again with a calculating look.

"Prince Vegeta, I don't trust you. You don't trust me either, so we're kind of even." She paused and received a nod from him. "Every person here, except perhaps-Bulma, was it? can easily win against me. I pose little threat to this planet, and from the fact that you're helping to protect it I can assume you don't either. For now until both of us have a legitimate reason to hate each other besides old titles from a destroyed planet, do you believe we can put aside our grudges?"

He huffed. "You're sure as hell right I don't trust you. And don't think I don't know just how much danger you pose, simply by being here. But it's not like I have a choice now is it?" He glared at Bulma.

Everyone relaxed just a bit, knowing that was Vegeta's way of agreeing, albeit reluctantly. Goku laughed nervously and scratched behind his head.

"Well, now that _that's_ decided. Chichi didn't want us out too long and we were in the middle of eating, so I guess we better be heading back. We'll come by Capsule Corp tomorrow though to see how things are going!" He waved as he flew into the air, his sons floating after him.

"Bye Trunks! Bye FrohstByte! I'll see you two tomorrow!" Goten waved in a friendly manner to the child, who cautiously waved a yellow hand back.

Vegeta flew off directly after, grumbling under his breath. Krillen stayed long enough to welcome the pair to Earth before flying away himself.

"What are you going to do with my ship?" Verakbee asked curiously.

"Oh we can just leave it here for now, I'll send a crew out with some trucks and lifting equipment. Hey, you don't mind if I looked it over do you? It's fairly obvious that it's not Saiyan technology," Bulma looked at her hopefully.

"Of course not, you can do whatever you want with it. Except take it apart, I still might need it." She smiled. "It's Teshyon technology, by the way, the best there is."

"Nothing built like Teshyon tech!" FrohstByte chirped, seemingly much calmer now that Vegeta had left.

"Teshyon? Never heard of it, though that's not so surprising.""Hey, wanna fly with me on the way back?" Trunks asked the small alien with a smile.

"Uh, I can't... fly, I mean. I can't fly." FrohtsByte shuffled his feet awkwardly, still behind his guardian.

"What?!" Trunks stared with wide eyes. "Why can't you fly yet?!"

"He doesn't have very good kii control," The female Saiyan explained, putting her hand on FrohstByte's shoulder reassuringly.

"Oh. Does it have something to do with how his kii feels funny?"

"Trunks! Don't be rude," Bulma scolded.

"Actually, we're pretty sure that it DOES have something to do with that." She smiled gently.

Bulma led them to her helicopter, Verakbee unwilling to leave her charge alone and Trunks wanting to get to know his new possible friend.

On the flight back Bulma learned that Verakbee was suspicious of nearly everything, children being her biggest weakness(and she fully admitted it too). Anyone could see how protective she was of Frohstbyte, but Bulma also learned that he considered her his older sister. The little alien himself was scared of everything, it took the whole ride for him to relax enough to talk without whispering or stuttering. Even when he talked normally though his voice was quiet and barely understandable.

"I... I, wow, um... this is all _yours_?" She gaped at the ginormous sprawl of buildings that was Capsule Corp.

"Yep! And you and FrohstByte will have your own section all to yourselves, at least until you're used to living on Earth."

"'Byte," He muttered shyly. "Everyone calls me 'Byte."

"Well that sounds weird to say to me! Can I call you Frohst'?" Trunks asked.

"Uh.. I guess, sure..."

Bulma and Verakbee smiled as they watched the two talk. Or, more like Trunks chattered relentlessly while FrohstByte listened shyly.

"Hey, Bulma?"

"Hmm?"

"You might as well call me Vera'."

Bulma gave her a bright smile.

* * *

Dinner was... odd, to say the least.

FrohstByte hadn't known what any of the foods were and Verakbee had been worried over the fact that they didn't know if any of the foods were poisonous to his species(which Bulma learned were called Arcosians).

Trunks spent the entire time pelting the duo with questions. Of course neither of them really minded all that much, though there were some things they didn't trust to tell. Bulma respected this and never pressured them to share anything.

But there was one question that they couldn't ignore.

"So, what planet've you guys been living on?" Trunks bit into a piece of chicken. "I mean, you had to live _somewhere_. And why'd you guys leave?"

Verakbee stiffened, looking rather distant suddenly. FrohstByte grew teary eyed and choked slightly on his bite of corn. He coughed and wheezed for a minute, looking closer and closer to full on crying.

"It's fine," Bulma assured them quickly. "It's personal, we know you guys-"

"No," The Saiyan sighed. "A name can't hurt." She patted FrohstByte's back, helping him catch his breath. "Tesh. Planet Tesh, the most technologically advanced planet to exist." Her eyes showed sadness and regret.

"Planter Tesh huh? I heard it was impossible to conquer." All four head turned to see Vegeta standing in the doorway with a suspicious glare. So far he'd stayed out of their way, knowing that he and Verakbee would most likely end up fighting if they met. "What would you be doing there?" His eyes narrowed.

"Prince Vegeta." she nodded stiffly. Bulma had been unable to convince her to stop referring to him by his title.

He snorted. "_Someone_ finally knows the importance of using my rank. Are you going to answer me?"

She closed her eyes, bowing her head. When she finally looked up she had successfully hidden away her emotions. "If you would allow it, I'd like to keep that to myself for the time being. I have had little time to... _absorb_ the situation we've found ourselves in." She nodded in her charge's direction, subtly implying that it would be best to not bring it up until he'd managed to calm down.

Vegeta rolled his eyes and snorted again, but turned and left nonetheless.

There was silence for a few more minutes, as FrohstByte sniffed and the others continued eating. Bulma finally said something.

"Welcome to the club," she smirked slightly when Verakbee glanced up at her in confusion. "You are now one of two women who he'll listen to." Trunks snickered and FrohstByte frowned, not really getting it.

Verakbee snorted. "I think it's because I actually treat him like a superior."

Bulma shook her head in exasperation. "You know you don't have to, right? He's not really a prince anymore. Besides, didn't DeathTails ignore royalty or men or something like that?"

"Yeah, well, we ignored them because we considered our own commanders were better leaders." She snorted again.

"Oooh, so because you don't _have_ any anymore..."

"Yep. He's the only person left to follow orders from." She shrugged. "Besides, I was _extremely_ new to the whole DeathTail thing when Planet Vegeta was blown up."

Bulma was about to ask how she'd survived through it, but thought better and stayed silent. The rest of the meal was spent slightly more relaxed as Trunks gave up on asking questions and was now telling them about Earth. Every once in a while Bulma had to interrupt to explain something better or call Trunks out on a fib, but otherwise things went fairly smoothly.

* * *

**And they all lived happily ever after... JUST KIDDING! Happily Ever After is boring, there's gotta be some drama thrown in there first! ;D Please read and review, tell me what you guys think about Verakbee and FrohstByte!**


	4. Chapter 4

**The New Crew**

**Chapter Four**

**Yay, RpM has finally got off her butt and posted Chapter Four! And it's a biggy, almost 3,000 words! Yay~!**

**Okay, now that my silliness is out of the way, I've been thinking a lot about other stories. In fact, I've been practically OBSESSED with an idea for an Avengers/Fairy Tail crossover... I doubt many of you would, but if anyone knows both of those fandoms and think it would be a good idea please tell me! I'm posting a similar message in all my stories as I update them. My main issue is that I don't know many people who'd be interested in such a crossover and I already have a slagton of stories to concentrate on. Not to mention I'm out of fresh notebooks, meaning I can't write it down in a notebook before I type it up. Luckily I already have it fully planned out so that's one little thing taken care of. So, if anyone is interested please tell me!**

**Thank you rinpup14 and cora shadowcat(guest) for reviewing last chapter! ^^**

**As for cora shadowcat's review, I can't respond since you're a guest so I'll respond here: _I think this is a awesome story. But I have one question , wouldn't Piccolo of felt it to. When does he get there?See you next update._**

**Firstly, thanks a lot! :D In answer to your question, both Verakbee and FrohstByte have REALLY low power levels compared to him and all the Z Fighters. He felt all the people who went to check it out was enough, and didn't bother to investigate himself since they're not so much of a deal. For when he'll get here, that's coming up in a few chappy's. ;3 By the way, hi! Nice to see you this fine update. XD**

**[insertrandomDisclaimer] - Do you guys think this is enough of a Disclaimer? I think it is. It's real bothersome to Disclaim EVERY chapter when EVERYONE knows that I own squat.**

* * *

FrohstByte's P.o.V.

Earth was scary...

I wasn't being very brave either. I remember Vera' told me one time that you have to be brave and not show fear. _Especially_ with Saiyans. But I messed up big, now that scary prince probably thought I was a scaredy cat!

He was _waaay_ scarier than anything else on I'd seen on Earth though! Vera' told me that it wasn't my fault I was scared, but his for being all mean and nasty. She told me to take my fear and use it to stay on guard and be ready for anything.

I knew that she didn't trust anyone and she only gave them a chance because I asked her to. But that was her job, she didn't trust people so that she could protect the ones she did. That's why _my_ job was supposed to be helping her trust others, at least a little. It was kinda weird but it worked out on planet Tesh.

We weren't on Tesh anymore though, and I could tell that she was being _super_ careful. She was a little scared too, but _she_ took her fear and put it ALL into keeping me safe. I know I can always count on her for that.

I didn't really know what to feel about some of the people I'd met. Prince Vegeta was just all _scary_, but none of the others were. Like Bulma, _she_ was super nice! I kinda liked her because she reminded me of Vera' when it's just me and her. The other two grownups, Goku and Krillen, were just kinda meh. Goku did seem real fun though, just like Kento! Kento was my mom's first best friend on Tesh. He was real funny and even though he was older than her he was still a kid.

Krillen was almost like Pentar, except... Not as many legs. Or eyes. Pentar was another best friend of Vera'. Sometimes when she was busy he looked after me and Kento, though usually her other friend Mixenex did.

The older kid, I think his name was Gohan, was quiet so I didn't really know what to think about him. He seemed pretty nice though. His little brother Goten was real friendly. Trunks was too, and they actually acted like they wanted to be friends with me.

I never really had friends on Tesh, except for Kento. Teshions weren't kids for very long and when they were they were jerks. Vera' says that's the only time I can get away with saying mean stuff about someone. Even _grownup_ Teshions agree, the only time a Teshion is mean is when they're kids. Technon once tried telling me why, but I didn't understand him at _all_.

He was another friend one of Vera''s best friends, and they both got along better than any of Vera''s other friends. Vera' always got along great with all of her friends, but they didn't really understand that she _needed_ to be super duper careful and paranoid to protect them, and me. Technon always got that though, so they were super close in a different way.

But yeah, I didn't really _have_ friends so I didn't really know how to act with Trunks and Goten. Kento had just always been my friend as way back as I can remember. He was more family though, so it didn't count and I still acted different with him.

Trunks was real nice to me and didn't mind when I didn't talk all that much, so I think I could try to figure out by myself.

When the sun went down and everything went dark Bulma told us it was 'nighttime' and we had to go to sleep for the 'night'. Vera' was only confused for a second before she nodded.

The way humans slept was weird. Sleep while the moon was out and be awake when the sun was out? It was _super_ weird! Vera' told me that it was because Earth's sun is a lot closer than Tesh's is and it only has one moon, so it's really different during 'night' and 'day'.

Then Bulma got that shiny look in her eyes that Technon gets a lot and Vera' had to tell her how Tesh's sun and moons worked. I knew it but I still listened anyways.

Tesh's sun is _super duper_ far away so when it comes out there's not a lot of extra light or anything, it's kinda just a star that's a little bigger and brighter than others. Tesh has twelve moons though and they all go at different speeds. Five of them have a special glowy type of rock ALL over them that makes them _real_ bright. The moons move too crazy for Teshions to be all organized by them, so they don't have anything to do with when we would sleep or not. Vera explained it to them that "It's like having several mini days inside of one of your days, there's no point in going to sleep every time the light goes out because just a little while later it'll be light again."

It was a _lot_ different on Earth, but Vera' said that Planet Vegeta was a lot like Earth with 'days' and 'nights'. Bulma was real interested in it but then she yawned REAL loud and said that she had to go to bed. Before she did, she made sure Trunks left to go to sleep too. He said 'goodnight' and left, though he was real upset that he had to go. Then she gave us a GINORMOUS room, all to ourselves!

Vera' went right to the bathroom and took a hot shower. I sat on the bed for a little bit, but ended up exploring.

There was a little living room area when you came in and a real pretty door led to the bedroom. There was another door that went to another bedroom that was a little smaller, but I don't know what it was for since me and Vera' always share a bed. The bedroom was super big, with a desk and chairs and dressers and even a cool bouncy couch!

I hopped up and down on it for a while, laughing. It was fun! Couches weren't bouncy on Tesh! There was even a big, soft chair that bounced too!

I liked bouncing and jumping because I liked pretending I was flying. Or sometimes I pretended I was hopping across the planet, going over a whole city with a single jump! It was awesome!

I accidentally hit my tail on the couch arm though, so I had to stop. Vera' always tells me that if I get hurt while jumping I have to take a break. I always do what Vera' tells me to do, because I know she's always trying to protect me.

I went and sat on the bed again, but I was all energetic now so I started tapping my tail. And the _bed_ was bouncy too! Except it was WAY bouncier than the couch!

Yay!

* * *

No One's P.o.V.

By the time Verakbee finally exited the bathroom she was welcomed with the sight of her charge jumping up and down on the bed, letting out peals of excited laughter. She smiled as she rubbed her hair with a towel, another one wrapped around her body.

"Having fun?" She walked over to a small dresser.

"Yeah!" He giggled happily.

She dug around for a minute before pulling out a pair of pajamas. She took a moment to mentally thank Bulma, whether she had pjs put in there specifically or they were just there for whenever they were needed.

"Just our luck that the first human we run into is rich." She mused as she walked back into the bathroom. She didn't bother closing the door this time, simply turning the corner so that she wasn't seen from the bed. 'Byte knew better than to look anyways, he was the perfect little gentleman.

Once she'd gotten dressed she looked around the bathroom to try to find a hairbrush. There were two sections to it, the first had a spotless countertop with two sinks and a giant mirror that split into three sections overlooking it. A short ways next to the counter was the toilet, perfectly positioned so that it couldn't be seen from the mirror. The other section held a shower with dozens of buttons that was pure heaven to Verakbee and a beautiful claw footed bathtub.

But no matter how hard she looked she couldn't find a dang hairbrush! She knew humans used them because Bulma had been brushing her hair one last time before going to sleep earlier.

"Ugh, why do stupid things happen with me and hairbrushes!?" She growled. Indeed, there'd been a few... incidents before involving hairbrushes. She only used them because she had to. Hairbrushes were evil, and she had experiences to prove it!

"OWCH!" All thoughts regarding her hatred for hairbrushes left her mind and in a second she had bolted to the door of the bathroom in her defensive position. A cursory glance showed that everything was fine, though FrohstByte was no longer bouncing on the bed. She fought down thoughts of kidnapping and sabotage, reaching her energy out to feel for his familiar kii.

She relaxed slightly on the inside when his kii was on the other side of the bed. It was trembling slightly in a random way, meaning he was hurt, though barely. She launched herself over the bed and landed soundlessly in a crouch next to him, still on guard for anything.

* * *

Verakbee's P.o.V.

"It's fine Vera'," He mumbled shyly, seeming embarrassed. "I just kinda hit my tail earlier. I mighta fallen off the bed onto it and made it hurt worse..." I looked at him meaningfully and he shook his head. "It was just an accident Vera', nobody's been in here but you and me."

I finally relaxed, picking him up and setting him on the edge of the bed and crouching down to get a good look at his tail.

"Are you okay? I heard you say 'owch'," I carefully ran my fingers over his tail to check for anything worse than a big bruise.

I didn't care if people called me paranoid for being so thorough when it came to him, I would _never_ let 'Byte get hurt under my watch. It hurt me knowing that I'd been distracted from that goal for even the smallest amount of time, letting him get injured in even the smallest way. I'd have to be more vigilant, Earth wasn't like Tesh. I didn't have a group of trusted (and sometimes powerful) friends to keep an eye or four on him when I was somewhere else.

"Well, I landed on it where I hit it earlier," He pushed my hands away and brought his tail up to curl over his legs so I'd have a better view.

I clicked my tongue. "Why is it you always hurt your tail?" I examined the spot where his yellow skin held a small orange bruise that was quickly spreading. "That's a nasty one alright, but luckily it's just a bruise. Be happy you're not a Saiyan, that would be hurting a LOT worse." I stood up and teased him with a flick of my own, furry tail.

It was often rumored that my family had an alien somewhere in our bloodline. For one, some members of my family were born with curly, blood-colored hair. I got the normal spiky black, though I often wished I was lucky enough to have the thinner red. Less time wrenching my scalp off with a brush. For another, our eyes differed from the normal black. Most ended up with a light green or purple, but I'd gotten a rich blue. Not that I was complaining, I liked it. Having a black tipped tail was actually normal for female Saiyans, so I was fine there. But the long, soft fur at the tip that showed up in most of my family had always given me grief.

FrohstByte laughed and rolled his eyes with a smile. He batted my tail away playfully and I flicked it again at his face. He squealed and covered his eyes as the long fur tickled him.

"Vera', stop it!" He giggled.

"Fine fine, killjoy." I smirked. "How about we go and get some ice for that? It'll probably help it feel better." I ran my fingers through my hair trying to make it semi-presentable.

"Don't you wanna brush your hair first?" He asked with innocent eyes, ever attentive.

I laughed. "Can't find a hairbrush. If there's one in the bathroom it's hidden well."

He slid off the bed, mindful of his tail. "I wanna look! Maybe I can find one!" He looked up at me and smiled.

"Okay, but if you can't find it in a few minutes we're leaving to go find some ice." He nodded vigorously and ran into the bathroom excitedly. I laughed and shook my head at his silliness before following.

* * *

No One's P.o.V.

He looked through most of the areas she did, missing a few that she'd only looked at just in case. He wasn't having any better luck, but for some reason he stopped and tilted his head.

"Hi!" He said to midair. Verakbee immediately went on the alert, looking around and trying to sense anyone's kii.

"Who are you talking to?" She knelt next to him and glared at their surroundings protectively.

He tilted his head the other way as if listening to someone. "He says his name's Dende. He's a good guy, I can Tell." She paid attention to the stress on tell.

There were often times where FrohstByte just _knew_ things for no reason. He was _never_ wrong when he got those feelings and the odd ability had saved lives a few times on Tesh.

"What does this Dende want?" She looked around suspiciously. He may be a 'good guy' but she was still going to be cautious.

"First he says calm down, he's far away from here. Next he says he felt how weird my kii was and reached out to see who I was. Then he says he doesn't know how I'm hearing him when he's not trying to talk to me." FrohstByte laughed. "That's funny! Who's Mr. Popo? Oh! I'm sorry, I just kinda heard it..." He dipped his head shyly.

"Well, _Dende_, I'd _appreciate_ it if you left me and my charge alone," She growled. The idea of a stranger in FrohstByte's head was _seriously_ setting off all kinds of danger bells in _hers_.

"He says he's sorry because he didn't mean to. Whoops! I did it again..." FrohstByte frowned. "Okay, bye!" He looked up at me. "He also said there's cabinets behind the mirrors."

She sighed, getting up from her crouch and looking at the sink area in annoyance. "You know what? For once in my life I'm going to pretend that something never happened. I'm too tired for this gru. But... he _did_ have no intentions of hurting you, right?" She felt around the mirrors' edges until one swung open.

"Nope, he was really just trying to make sure I wasn't a bad guy." FrohstByte nodded and his tail twitched behind him.

"Flethel Earth customs," She muttered to herself as she looked through the contents of the cabinet. There wasn't a hairbrush but there _was_ a small first-aid kit. Thinking there might be something useful, she popped it open and started digging around. She found an 'ice pack', taking a minute to figure out how to crack it. "Huh." She said as the pack became ice cold in her hands. "That's pretty handy." After giving it to FrohstByte with instructions to hold it to the now much larger bruise she went on the hunt through the other cabinet she found.

_Finally_ she found a hairbrush and battled with her thick, tangled hair for about fifteen minutes before deciding it was good enough. It was going to be just as bad in the morning, but it would be much worse if she didn't brush it now.

"You good with taking a bath by yourself?" She asked as she carefully set the offending object down to avoid throwing it.

"Yeah." He answered quietly. He knew she wasn't mad at him, but he still hated it when she was frustrated.

She sighed tiredly and left the bathroom to go fall face first onto the bed.

By the time she was starting to doze off the bed moved as a small body clambered on. She tensed for a fraction of a second before relaxing. She lifted one of the blankets from the cocoon she'd wrapped herself into as an invitation.

When she finally fell asleep with FrohstByte cuddled up next to her the last thing she thought was not as peaceful or adorable as the scene they presented.

_/I flethel hate hairbrushes.../_

* * *

**Every good character needs something about them that is completely and utterly silly. Don't even ask me how the hairbrush thing came about. X3**

**But seriously, have you seen Saiyan hair?! It looks like it's freaking SOLID. I doubt it's very easy to brush, and the poor girl Saiyans with longer hair must have it hard!**

**Anyways, mini rant over, please Read and Review for the lovely author! (who's waiting eagerly for your response to the attempt at sibling fluff this chapter OwO) I really tried hard to make a chapter that showed you more of Verakbee and FrohstByte's personality's and views towards each other without making it seem like a filler chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I just want to say now that I am very sorry for taking this long between updates. All of my stories have more or less been put on short hold. I'll keep working at them, but updates will be taking a long long time. **

**Thank you rinpup14 and Biku-sensei-sez-meow for reviewing last chapter! And now without further ado, chapter Five!**

**[Insert Disclaimer]**

* * *

**The New Crew ****Chap 5**

_A week later..._

Once the odd duo began to learn more about Earth and get more comfortable they started to fit in very nicely.

FrohstByte was automatically the bestest of friends with Goten and Trunks, the former visiting every chance he got. The three fit well together as well. The two more energetic and powerful boys were helping to slowly draw their shy alien friend out of his shell. Similarly he helped give them a better sense of caution and they started learning to use restraint, having to think carefully to make sure anything they were planning on doing wasn't going to scare or panic him too badly(or at all if they could help it).

Verakbee was simply too paranoid to get close to anyone in such a short time, she thoroughly admitted it as well. She and Bulma were getting along though, often spending time just watching the three children play around and goof off. Bulma felt that Verakbee would become a very close friend as soon as she loosened up a bit, secretly Verakbee wanted to be friends with Bulma as well.

Vegeta on the other hand... The prince kept his word and avoided Verakbee as much as possible, both acting stiff but moderately polite when accidentally in the same room.

* * *

"Frohsty!"

The little Arcosian looked up just in time for his friend Goten to crash into him from midair.

"'Ten, what is it?" He coughed as he pushed the other off and rolled over. Trunks stood on the stairs to Capsule Corp. and snickered.

"My mom wants to meet you! And we told her all about you so you don't have to worry about her freaking out or anything!" Goten babbled, jumping up and patting the dirt off.

"That's cool," FrohstByte smiled shyly. "Vera' will want to come though..."

"That's totally fine! Mom wants to meet her too."

"That's so awesome! Can I come?" Trunks perked up as he came over and helped 'Byte up.

"Totally," Goten nodded. "And I wanted to go and do some fun stuff before."

"Fun stuff? Like what?" 'Byte asked quietly.

"I don't know, but we'll find something to do!"

"Yeah, that's what always happens." Trunks smiled.

"Okay then..." FrohstByte nodded slowly.

One visit to Verakbee and Bulma (to ask permission and tell them about the invitation) and the three were off.

Goten and Trunks took turns carrying their friend and flew as fast as possible, laughing as he squealed and cheered from their acrobatics. Eventually they stopped at a large lake for lunch, easily making a fire and catching a few (ginormous) fish. FrohstByte had first been shocked by the amount of food the two demi-Saiyans ate, since Verakbee only ate around twice as much as normal humans did. He'd soon gotten used to it and was rather fascinated by watching them eat enough food to appear as if they'd burst.

He'd also completely _loved _fish the very first time he'd tried it and ever since ate as much of it as he could. So he was all too eager to learn how to fish and, in an uncharacteristic show of excitement, rushed them down to the water and demanded they hurry up.

A long while later, the three were very wet and were enjoying their hard earned fish with gusto, laughing and joking as they chowed down.

"Hey Frohst'?" Trunks said, flopping down on his back and tossing a few bones into the campfire.

"Yeah?" The shy Arcosian finished off the last of his fish.

"Why do you call Goten 'Ten?" At the mention of his name the third looked over and quickly took his last bite.

"Yeah, I notished that too!" He swallowed.

FrohstByte looked at them in confusion for a few seconds, as if not understanding the question, before he lit up in realization.

"On Tesh nicknames are real careful. Guys' nicknames are from the last part of their name and the girls' nicknames are from the first part." H nodded sagely, having informed them of something _very_ important on Tesh.

"I get it, so if I was a girl you would call me Go' instead of 'Ten!" Goten grinned when FrohstByte nodded.

"Well what would I be called?" Trunks asked eagerly. 'Byte frowned as he thought.

"Well, you don't have two or more syllulbuses so I don't really know."

"Syllunbusles?" Trunks questioned.

"I think he said 'sishunbulls'," Goten nodded.

"Sylnumbles." FrohstByte corrected with what he thought was a wise look.

"What are _those?_" Trunks thought they sounded weird.

"Well, listen! Frohst-Byte!" He clapped his hands as he spoke, ending up with just two claps. "I have two sylnabuses in my name."

"How does that work?" Goten's eyes crossed in confusion.

"Here, try!" 'Byte took Goten's hands and clapped them as he spoke. "Go-ten!"

"Let me try! Trunks!" He pouted when he only got one clap out of it. "I guess I really do have only one sylbunle."

"Well, you still need a nicknames, even if you can't have an all the way Teshion one!" 'Byte nodded vigorously.

"Okay, I think I know how we can figure one out!" Trunks got up and started writing in the dirt with his finger. "...n ...k ...s!"

The other two looked over his shoulders to see his name scrawled across the ground.

"Trun'?" Goten tilted his head. FrohstByte fidgeted.

"No, first name is for girls."

Trunks' jaw fell open in shock and he immediately hugged a surprised FrohstByte with a horrified look. "I'm so so so so sorry! When I call you Frohsty I've been calling you a girl!"

"It's okay, you didn't know. Plus you're only calling me a girl if you call me Frohst'. Frohsty is different." 'Byte hugged him back.

"How's it diff'rent?" Goten looked at the alien curiously.

"I don't know," FrohstByte frowned. "It just is."

Having sorted that out they turned back to the writing on the ground.

"..."

"...I don't wanna be called 'Unks." The purple haired kid scowled.

They sat there trying to think for several minutes.

"Nicknames for nicknames!" Goten yelled out all of a sudden.

"What?" The other two looked at him in confusion.

"Well, put them all together and we're 'Byte, 'Ten, and 'Unks. We could make secret spy nicknames from those!" Goten smiled in victory, he didn't come up with ideas very much.

"That's awesome! Vera' once told me something like that too, so we can be _real_ spyish!" 'Byte grinned.

"Awesome! So do we all agree?" Trunks pulled them closer with a conspiratorial whisper.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"We'd all be spies! Do we all agree?"

Goten and FrohstByte looked at each other in surprise, jaws dropped at the idea.

"Aren't spies like, evil or something?" Goten whispered. "_OW!_" He nursed his cheek, which sported a surprisingly big bruise.

"Some spies are bad, but they're not evil! And there are good ones! Lots of good ones!" FrohstByte shouted angrily, fist clenched from where he'd punched his friend.

"I'm sorry, I forgot about Vera'..." Goten shrank fearfully under his glare. Why did he look so scary?! He'd never looked scary before!

Trunks, most likely realizing that something wrong was happening, grabbed FrohstByte's arm. "It's okay F- I mean, 'Byte! He really forgot! 'Ten is kinda stupid a lot of times!"

"Hey!" He protested loudly before Trunks narrowed him with a glare. Seeing FrohstByte beginning to calm down, Goten tucked his head down and shuffled his feet awkwardly. "I really am sorry though... I didn't mean it like that. On TV all you see is the bad spies, you barely ever see the good spies."

"I-I guess its okay, you just forgot..." FrohstByte whispered fearfully, seeming afraid of his own reaction. He was already back in shy mode.

The other two children, being as young as they were, had already gotten over the strangeness of the situation.

"Thanks 'Byte!" Goten smiled sheepishly. "I'll try to not say dumb stuff like that again!"

"Alright, back to our spy names!" Trunks grinned.

"'Byte, 'Ten, and 'Unks..." Goten said thoughtfully. "Let's start with your's, 'Byte!"

"What can we do with 'Byte?" Trunks wondered.

"It sounds exactly the same as 'bite', like you're biting something." FrohstByte commented.

"Right! So what's something that bites?" Trunks pondered excitedly.

"It has to be yellow and red too, to be even more like him!" Goten decided.

"There are animals that are red and yellow on Earth?" 'Byte tilted his head in wonder.

"Yeah! ... I think." Trunks blinked. "Let's go look it up!"

"Look it up?"

"On Google Images or something. My mom says you can find anything on the internet." Goten nodded. The Arcosian stared at him blankly.

"What's Gogle? And intranet?"

Goten and Trunks stared at him before looking at each other.

"I guess he wouldn't know, I mean he _is_ from a different planet and all." Trunks shrugged.

"Well, we should show him. It's real important after all!" 'Ten nodded furiously.

"Great idea! We can't go back yet though because then they'd drag us off to your house and they'd be watching us. That's not a good idea if we're going to be all secret and stuff."

"We can go to a library, they have computers there right?" Goten suggested.

"Yeah! Awesome!" Trunks smiled. "Let's go!"

"What?" FrohstByte was looking back and forth between the two boys in confusion as they'd talked.

"Come on!" Goten and Trunks grabbed him and started flying, the Arcosian deciding to just wait until they landed before asking again.

Fifteen minutes later they set him down in an alley next to a large, old-fashioned building. Unlike many older buildings it seemed to be immaculately maintained, every window practically sparling and every bush trimmed to perfection.

"What is this place?" FrohstByte whispered curiously.

"It's a library! They're big, stuffy places with tons of old books and you have to be quiet or the librarian will kick you out." Trunks nodded seriously.

"Oh, so it's kinda like a knowledge hall?" 'Byte perked up at finding similarities.

"What's that?"

"It's a place on Planet Tesh where knowledge was stored and kept for whoever wanted to find it. There are a ton of them _everywhere_." He nodded.

"That _does_ sound like a library," Trunks nodded too.

"Come on," Goten urged, noticing a few people giving FrohstByte stares.

The three children walked into the library, Trunks leading the way to a smaller section with desks and computers. FrohstByte looked around them with wonder as they walked, having never seen a 'book' before. He was amazed at how many there were and wondered how long it took to make them all. It was only the two hands on both arms that kept him from veering off course and crashing into anything.

"You do know what a computer is, right?" Trunks asked, just in case.

"Yeah, lots of computers on Tesh. But I don't think I know how these ones work." 'Byte shrugged as he poked the mouse.

Trunks launched into instructions on how to turn the computer on, 'Byte absorbing all of it easily with how he was used to Teshions bursting into much more complicated descriptions. Goten wasn't as lucky, lost as soon as Trunks started talking.

Once FrohstByte knew pretty much everything about computers that Trunks could tell him without both of them dropping off to sleep, the purple haired boy pulled up Internet Explorer. He then clicked on Google, explaining what he was doing as he went.

"So that's Google?" FrohstByte looked at the screen innocently.

"Yep! And we can look up yellow and red animals with it! But it's easier to use Google Images so we can choose one that looks cool, it looks up pictures instead of websites." He clicked something on the screen, then got ready to type. "Alright, let's do this! Yellow and red…"


	6. Chapter 6

**HAHAHA I FINALLY UPDATED AJHKJGSDFG**

**Okay so lately I've been in a bad "don't wanna write anything mood" and only just recently have I been getting back into it. Hope you guys love this chapter! Lots of cuteness ahead, not to mention some actual plot!**

**Thank you Biku-sensei-sez-meow, ArisuTamaZuki, Kihlala Sisters, and Tiryn for reviewing last chapter!**

**[loudly screams DISCLAIMER]**

* * *

**The New Crew Chapter Six**

"Yellow and red…" Trunks trailed off as they saw the options. "Well there isn't anything right away. What should I add onto it?"

"Animals! Oh, no, _bugs!_" Goten said excitedly.

"Okay!" Trunks stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth. "There!" He clicked the search button and FrohstByte's eyes widened comically in fear.

"Those're scary!" He gaped at the screen.

"I think they're nasty looking." Goten nodded.

"Totally," Trunks went along with it and scrolled down further. "Man, I don't see anything! Maybe we should use something else. Oh, spiders bite!" He retyped 'spider'. "Oh wow, look at this one!" One of the very first ones was a pale yellow spider with red and white on its back.

Trunks clicked on the link and the site popped up. The other two children stared in confusion as Trunks easily scrolled through it looking for the right information.

"I think it looks cool," 'Byte smiled slightly. "Not as scary as the other ones too."

"It's called a 'Telamonia'." Trunks struggled to pronounce it. "Hold on…" Copying and pasting the word back into the search bar, which left the other two in wonder at his skill, he reclicked the search button.

FrohstByte immediately shrieked and fell backwards. Goten just blinked and Trunks started to panic at what had happened. He smacked his face when he realized the Arcosian had freaked out over the bite wound on the top.

"It's okay 'Byte, it's just a picture!" 'Ten hummed worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm s-sorry…" FrohstByte had turned a deep shade of orange in embarrassment. "I-I just r-really don't like seeing… w-wounds…" The look of utter shame and fear on his face completely melted his friends' hearts.

"Dude, it's okay. I mean I don't get it but we don't mind." Goten shrugged.

"Totally." Trunks nodded furiously. "So whattaya think?"

"I-I guess the name sounds cool. 'Nia." FrohstByte repeated it several times and then smiled softly. "Nia! I like it. Though that's still two sybbaluns."

"We wanted to be different so that's good." 'Ten nodded. "Can we look for mine next?!"

"Oh yeah! …What do you guys think of when you hear 'Ten?" Trunks put his hand on his chin.

None of them could think of an idea, so Trunks just typed in 'ten'.

"What's the 'doctor' thing about?" Goten's head tilted.

"I dunno but he looks kinda cool." Trunks clicked on it and more pictures showed up. "Woah, _really_ cool. Whatcha think 'Ten?"

"Huh, maybe. I don't think Doctor's a good name though…"

"'Tor." FrohstByte shrugged. "I think it sounds cool. Tore."

"Tore." Goten thought about it and nodded. "Tore totally sounds cool! Just don't call me Doctor!"

"Alright!" Trunks grinned. "My turn!" He went ahead and just typed in 'unks'.

Oddly enough, a ton of really weird stuff popped up. FrohstByte seemed most interested in the foods.

"What's that?"

"It's called a hamburger." Goten blinked. "'Ger? No, gur… Grr!" He laughed. "Trunks! You can totally be called Grr!"

Trunks laughed too. "I think it sounds all tough." He raised his hands in fake claws. "I'm Grr!" He tried to growl out. All three children devolved into laughter.

A few minutes later after being kicked out for being too noisy, they all walked away from the library giggling to themselves and having fun with their names.

"So if we're gonna be all spy-ie and all, when should we use our secret names?" Trunks waved his arms lazily as he walked. Both he and Goten turned to FrohstByte to see what he'd say.

"Well, not around other people," 'Byte nodded decisively. "Definitely not. That's like, the number one way to get caught. Whenever we're alone we could use them, or whenever our fam'lies aren't around." He shuffled his feet. "But uh… do you guys think I could tell Vera'? I always tell her everything an' I know for certain she won't tell anyone…"

"Grr?" Goten looked to Trunks.

"I think he can." The purple haired kid shrugged. "I mean she's a spy so she won't tell secrets."

"Kay, then I think so too."

"Thanks guys!" 'Byte smiled.

* * *

"Hi Vera'!" FrohstByte waved as soon as his friends set him down in the front lawn.

"Hey 'Byte, did you guys have fun?" The Saiyan smiled softly and bent down to hug him. They were going to ride with Bulma in her helicopter to go to the Son's home.

"Mmhmm!" He nodded furiously and hugged her tightly. "'Ten and Trunks showed me lotsa cool stuff and this place that seems like a knowledge hall, 'cept the lady there was waaay meaner than a Teshion." He pouted in embarrassment. "She made us leave 'cuz we were too loud."

"How dare she." Verakbee flicked his forehead teasingly. "Now come on, it's a long trip there."

"Kay Vera," He smiled and she sent him a soft one back.

"Trunks, Goten, are you two flying by yourselves?" Bulma exited the front door with her purse over her shoulder.

"Nope! I wanna ride with 'Byte!" Goten announced.

"Me too!" Trunks added quickly.

Bulma and Verakbee couldn't help but share a smile as the three scampered over to the helicopter waiting on its landing pad.

"It's good to see FrohstByte with friends, he's usually so shy." Vera' watched with a careful eye as her charge hopped into the helicopter awkwardly.

"Didn't he have any…" Bulma stopped abruptly as soon as she realized what she'd been about to say. "I'm so sorry, I forgot-"

"No it's okay." Verakbee smiled softly but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Teshions are quite frankly little _horrors_ as children and their childhood only lasts a few years. I try to not let 'Byte be around any adolescent Teshion."

Bulma nodded and wisely kept her mouth shut.

* * *

"Hello there, my name's Chichi!" The woman knelt down to smile brightly at the Arcosian hiding behind Verakbee's legs again. "You must be FrohstByte,"

He didn't do anything but nod nervously.

"Come on Frohsty, this is my mom!" Goten pulled at his arm eagerly.

"Why's he so scared all of the time?" Goku whispered loudly to his wife. He'd actually met the little guy once or twice already.

"Some children are just like that Goku," She chided him before returning her attention to her son coaxing his friend out. "So I hear you like fish, 'Byte is it?"

The mention of his favorite food along with his best friends encouraging him made him perk up. "…Yeah," He cautioned.

"Well we have lots of it! Come on inside, I'm sure you'll love it."

With a quick glance to his sister and seeing her reassuring smile FrohstByte nodded and finally stepped out from behind her. Chichi smiled widely at him and it seemed to scare him for a second before Goten and Trunks proceeded to drag him inside the house. Chichi raised an eyebrow at Bulma in curiosity and both she and the female Saiyan grinned a little sheepishly.

"Sorry, he's like that with everyone new," Verakbee chuckled lightly.

"No, it's fine. It's really cute actually." The women all shared a laugh before following the rest of the males inside.

* * *

It had been going pretty well, surprisingly. Verakbee appeared as if she was loosening up a bit, not actually relaxed but more than she had been, and Chichi and her had really hit it off. But then Gohan had perked up and said Piccolo of all people was coming by. Everyone else capable of sensing kii had automatically checked and verified it.

But then something had happened and the Namekian ended up right in front of a more than startled FrohstByte and scaring him half to death.

What was most notable wasn't the high pitched scream/yelp that escaped the yellow Arcosian, or the flinch as Piccolo automatically covered his sensitive ears. No, it was _Verakbee's _reaction that caught all of their attention.

Even being far weaker and slower than the Namekian Verakbee had flung herself at him in a split second reaction. By the luck of his attention being on the small alien who'd nearly busted his eardrums Piccolo had not reacted in time to stop her. Even more strangely was that instead of going for a punch or a kick she had gone straight for the first perceived weakness: his ears. When Piccolo had finally acted against her he'd already had one cut off by a blade she seemed to have pulled out of nowhere. Verakbee wasn't physically fast enough to evade the reflexive blow to her stomach but somehow grabbed onto FrohstByte so that the force pulled him clear of the 'danger'.

By the time she hit the (luckily) reinforced walls everyone was standing and yelling, trying to stop Piccolo from attacking further.

"STOP!" Chichi's shriek brought the pandemonium to a halt. Piccolo looked about ready to destroy the female Saiyan but was being blocked by the various people in the house and Verakbee was crouched protectively over her charge with a downright _murderous _expression. "Piccolo, calm the hell down! Gohan, go get a rag to stop the bleeding! Trunks, Goten, come calm down FrohstByte! Verakbee, _what the hell was that._"

In an instant the raw anger fled from Verakbee's body language. She still stood in a position to protect the hyperventilating 'Byte (allowing the two other children by, of course) but the deadly knife was no longer held in an attack position. If there was one thing Bulma had learned about the woman it was that Verakbee purposefully showed very much of her thought process through her body posture and her tail.

Right now her tail lashed back and forth showing her frustration but it whipped around her legs as if wanting to curl around one, meaning she was embarrassed. Her muscles, especially in her legs, were trembling as if she was trying to relax them but she couldn't stop from tensing up.

"…I'm… sorry…" She grumbled out. If she didn't have impeccable control over herself Bulma would bet she'd have blushed. "…It was a… reaction. FrohstByte screamed. I… I won't say I didn't mean to react but I apologize for not thinking my actions through." She addressed Piccolo as she said this and the Namekian narrowed his eyes at her when she unknit her tense muscles enough to bow slightly.

Everyone was silent as Piccolo eyed her. Her apology wasn't even quite one – she was completely unapologetic that she'd reacted to a threat to her little brother, even a perceived one, and was not even going to try and make up for it.

"Hmph." He eventually grunted, apparently at least slightly impressed at her knee-jerk strategy and uncaring at the loss of his ear.

* * *

"…She cut off the Namekian's ear?" Vegeta's brows rose.

"Yeah, it was kind of terrifying actually." Bulma continued tinkering with her project. "Not in the same way that you guys are when you fight, that's more awe-inspiring at the same time it's scary. She was just plain…" She paused to find the right word. "_Terrifying_. I swear I could feel my fight or flight instincts just seeing her."

"You mean to tell me that he was a perceived threat and she _only cut off his ear?_" Bulma sat up straight and looked at him.

"…Yeah..? What's so strange about… 'only', Vegeta? What is that supposed to mean?" She frowned.

The Saiyan snorted. "You all didn't believe me, did you? DeathTails are _deadly_, even to those with a high power level. If the Namekian caused her to react as if he was a threat to her it was only her lack of knowledge of him that saved his life."

Bulma's confused frown deepened. "Lack of knowledge..?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes but indulged her. "That is how a DeathTail takes down their opponents, more or less. They get in close, get to know every little piece of information about their target that they can. Eventually they can resort to any means of destroying them without even going into battle. The less knowledge a DeathTail has of you the better chances you have."

"That's all horribly vague." Bulma raised an eyebrow.

He scowled at her. "_DeathTails_ are horribly vague. One can never know how they will strike or what angle they might come from. They can choose sabotage, cutthroat assassination, blackmail, any number of things and very few of them require getting their hands dirty."

Bulma's next frown was more of worry. Verakbee… was she really like that? She seemed so nice, if paranoid, but then if what Vegeta was saying was true… Could it all just be a trick?

"But I suppose," Vegeta mused out loud. "If she reacted in such a way over the brat then he's one of the few who have the backing of a DeathTail."

"Really?" He seemed to understand the meaning behind her hopeful question.

"No DeathTail allows any weakness to be shown, or any danger to get in the way of an objective. With no knowledge of Piccolo she must be truly sincere about her care for the brat if she reacted in such a way to risk her life." He looked… reluctant… to voice the realization.

Bulma relaxed and for a few minutes there was silence as she went back to tinkering. Eventually she thought of something. "How do you know so much about them?"

"I was a prince. Even though they technically served royalty they often chose their own paths. It was common practice for them to betray those who were not in their group. It was beneficial for me to know what danger they truly possessed and how to best counter them if required."

Bulma blinked in shock. The way Vegeta had worded it sounded almost as if he would allow them to get away with many things to avoid getting involved. Where they really _that_ dangerous that even Vegeta, curse his pride, would avoid confrontations with them?

Bulma shook her head and got back to work. She was thinking into this too much, there was no way that could be true.

Right?

* * *

**Well. That's some stuff for you guys to think about. :)**

**Please Read and Review, let me know what you guys think!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I was expecting a little more of a response to the last chapter, since it had some actual action in it for once, but I guess not. Oh well! I'm happy with this chapter since it brings up several things that you'll see will be important later. ;3 It also helps add in parts of Verakbee's character that haven't been shown yet!**

**Thank you rinpup14 for being the only reviewer last chapter!**

* * *

**The New Crew Chapter Seven**

Verakbee wandered into the kitchen aimlessly. She nodded politely to Vegeta, who was digging in the refrigerator, and sat down casually on the counter by Bulma.

"You do know that food is sometimes prepared on this counter, right?" She asked with a slight trace of amusement.

"Huh?" Bulma looked up from the… whatever she was tinkering on and looked up. "Oh, Vera', uh…" She set her screwdriver down. "Sorry, I tend to end up in weird places when I'm working in the middle of the night on coffee. Actually, I probably moved in here when the coffee machine in my lab ran out of filters…" She rubbed her forehead. "I can't remember. I eventually fell asleep, so I did end up getting a few hours." She looked at the watch on her wrist. "Huh."

"Yup, it's past twelve." Verakbee smirked. "I've spent over twenty years making sure trawks didn't overwork themselves – don't think I won't start on you if you don't take a break soon."

"Trawks?" Bulma tilted her head curiously.

"Uh…" Vera's brow creased in thought. "…Really smart… goofs? There's not really a… solid translation. That's not even the proper way to say it." Verakbee clearly enunciated a strange, almost mechanical 'tock' like sound. "It's just easier to say trawk."

"Sounds like maybe a nerd or geek?" Bulma contemplated as she went to the sink and washed some grease off her hands.

Verakbee frowned slightly. "…I'm not sure what those mean. But possibly."

"Is trawk Teshion?" Bulma asked curiously. "For that matter, the way you said it the other way sounds like some of the noises 'Byte makes a lot. I thought he just made them randomly."

Vera' chuckled. "Yes, it is. 'Byte knows the Teshion language strangely well. It's a very difficult language, took me almost ten years to learn _even_ with the advanced learning methods Teshions have come up with." Verakbee cleared her throat and the only thing Bulma could compare to the harmonious noises she made was a cross between a flute and computer noises.

"Amazing," She gaped. "It sounds almost… mechanical?"

Verakbee actually laughed. "Well of course! They use it in their programming, which is one of the reasons their tech is so hard to understand, not to mention why they're somewhat reclusive." Something in that sentence seemed to remind Verakbee of something. Her tail curled up around her ankle and Bulma knew she was feeling sad on some level.

Eager to change the subject, as fascinating as Teshion were, Bulma brought up something she'd been meaning to. "Hey Vera' why are you still wearing the clothes you came here in? Not to mention, aren't they dirty by now?"

Verakbee blinked as if confused by the question. "…Oh!" She snorted. "Teshion clothes can last quite a while before being considered 'dirty'. Also, I was… unsure how exactly some of the clothes in the drawer were matched together. I don't really trust my sense of fashion after living on Tesh 'the planet of bright colors and little sense of color matching' for so long."

Well she hadn't directed the conversation away from Tesh but at least Vera's tail had gone back to idly swishing around the cabinets. Bulma laughed at the description. "Well maybe I can take you shopping and introduce you to Earth fashion then?" Vegeta's immediate snort of disdain was ignored.

"I'd like that," Verakbee seemed legitimately pleased at the offer, which Bulma counted as a win. "FrohstByte can come along right?" She'd been very careful and polite about Earth's customs so far.

"Of course! We might even be able to get him in a few outfits, unless," Bulma frowned. "Do arcosians _wear_ clothes? F- er, the ones I saw before, never did. I mean they had this natural armor like stuff."

"Who _cares_?" Vera raised an eyebrow. "If 'Byte wants to I won't stop him, and knowing him he'll be thrilled about it. I wouldn't let him wear anything on Tesh because absolutely nothing they had would have been anything less than an eyesore with his coloring."

Bulma chuckled. "Well then I guess we'd better go pry him away from Trunks. After of course I find something a little more normal for Earth for you to wear while we're out…"

* * *

"See? It's not that hard Nia!" Trunks called down.

"I'm still scared," The arcosian shuffled his feet nervously.

"Well that's okay, you're not very good at it. Anyone's scared of something they're not good at yet!" Trunks flew back down and landed. "Okay, so, try flying like an inch or two above the ground."

"I don't know, I'm not sure I wanna Grr…" FrohstByte looked at his friend with wide eyes.

"Why not?" Trunks made a face. He was so confused why 'Byte was scared of flying!

"I…" The alien paused and tilted his head. "Oh… okay. Never mind. Nothing bad will happen."

"What." Trunks blinked. "What? Why would something bad happen?"

"I don't know." 'Byte shrugged. "I mean I only Know if something bad's gonna happen. I don't Know why."

Trunks frowned. There was something weird about that but he wasn't really sure why. But at least Byte wasn't scared anymore. "So come on!" He grabbed onto his friend's hands. "Look, I can make sure you don't fall over."

FrohstByte swallowed, still nervous, and closed his eyes. His face scrunched up and Trunks nearly started tapping his foot in impatience when suddenly FrohstByte was pulling the _both_ of them higher in the air. "Waaaah!" 'Byte yelped loudly, having pulled them up several feet on accident. Without warning they started falling again and then 'Byte's tail flung out in a panic and they were going to the side.

"Woah there!" Trunks forcefully flied in one spot and held on tight. He could feel 'Byte somehow trying to fly in, like, eight different directions! "Hold still Nia!"

"I caaan't!" 'Byte wailed.

Seeing the tears welling up Trunks forced the both of them to the ground again and suddenly his friend was sitting on the ground and crying. Trunks wasn't sure what to do but hugged him, nearly crying himself because 'Byte _wouldn't stop crying!_

"I'm sorry I made you do that!" Trunks sniffed. "Please stop crying! Please please!"

FrohstByte's sobs slowed down a little bit and he was soon only hiccupping. "I-I'm sorry! I just! I got scared! And I couldn't control it!"

"It's okay, it's not your fault!" Trunks pat his head carefully, which was kind of weird because of the big red orb thingy on there. "It was totally my fault and I'm _really_ sorry!" He frowned and looked down.

"Don't get sad, I'm the sad one, silly…" 'Byte hiccupped one last time and tried drying his eyes. "Aw fle, don't tell Vera' I cried, she'd get worried…"

"Fle?" Trunks made a face when FrohstByte's cheeks turned a reddish orange.

"Please don't tell Vera I said that!" 'Byte waved his hands with wide eyes. "I would get in _so_ much trouble!"

"Oh, is it a bad word? My mom says I'd get in trouble if I ever said a bad word." Trunks tilted his head.

"Um, yeah? Vera' uses it lots but she says I'm not 'llowed to…" The alien looked down in shame.

"Well I'll keep it secret if you don't tell her I made you cry. She'd cut my ear off if she heard about it!" Trunks paled slightly. FrohstByte couldn't help but burst into giggles. "I'm serious! She totally would! She'd get all angry and protective and stuff!" 'Byte fell backwards laughing. "It's not funny!"

"It really is cuz you don't really know Vera'!" FrohstByte laughed.

"Humph," Trunks pouted but was secretly glad Nia wasn't crying anymore. "She-!" Trunks' eyes widened. "!"

"What is it?" 'Byte tried to stop giggling when Trunks waved his arms crazily.

"How are you doing that?!"

"Doing what?" FrohstByte tilted his head. Grr looked like he was about to jump up and down.

"You're hiding your Kii!"

"I _am?!_" 'Byte's eyes widened too. "How?! Wait, what?"

"I don't know! I've never met _anyone_ who can hide their Kii, not even my dad! The most anyone can do is make it smaller so they feel like a bug or something! Yours is… actually, it's coming back now." Trunks pouted. "Aw man, that was so cool though!"

"I don't know how to do it again," 'Byte frowned. "I didn't even _know_ I was doing it."

"That's okay, maybe we can try to train you to learn how!" Trunks jumped up and helped FrohstByte get back up.

"I guess," 'Byte's frown wavered.

"Oh hey, Vera' and my mom are coming." Trunks looked at the door curiously. They'd decided to explore the inside garden and that had led to Trunks wanting to help 'Byte with his flying.

"You boys having fun?" Bulma was the one to open the door.

The two kids looked at each other and then both of them blurted out an answer. "Yep!"

She raised an eyebrow but ignored the suspicious response. Verakbee came in after her and waved cheekily to her little brother.

He gasped in amazement and ran over to her. "Vera' you look so pretty!" He grabbed her hand and jumped up and down.

She smirked in satisfaction and smoothed down the ruffled blouse Bulma had picked out for her. She felt quite confident in the skinny jeans and wedges she was wearing as well. After, of course, they'd figured out how to cut a hole for her tail. They hadn't even dared try to mess with her hair. Even Bulma knew that was hopeless.

"Bulma picked it out, but we're going shopping to find some more and so I can learn about Earth fashion. Do you want to come along?"

"Sure!" 'Byte pretended not to hear Trunks making fake throw up noises behind him.

"Trunks, don't be rude or you're coming too!" His mother scolded.

Trunks went quiet.

* * *

FrohstByte looked around curiously though he was practically glued to Verakbee's side. She just smiled softly and let him clutch onto her hand like a lifeline.

Luckily Bulma knew a few designer stores that weren't very busy in order to keep him from being overwhelmed, not to mention she only took them to ones where she knew the people who worked there wouldn't really be bothered by Verakbee's tail and… FrohstByte overall.

And _boy_ was Bulma glad she'd taken Vera' shopping! Once she'd gotten a good idea of how Earth fashion went she was positively _amazing_. She liked almost everything she tried on and Bulma honestly wasn't sure if an outfit could look _bad_ on her. She was just so comfortable in everything she tried on it was hard to find something that she couldn't pull off. Not to mention she had a great head for what went together despite her initial objections that Tesh had ruined her.

FrohstByte was quite frankly adorable. He loved wearing anything they put him in and they were both enjoying the challenge of finding something to match his colors. Heck, the store managers had even gotten involved and were positively _gleeful_ at the chance of testing their skills to the max. It _was_ a little difficult, as the holes in his pants had to be a lot larger and it was tricky to find a material sturdy enough that it wouldn't fall apart, but again they all took it as just another challenge.

By the time they'd finished Bulma suggested getting dinner and was happy to introduce them to the concept of takeout. The two women had giggled secretly at the positively _delighted_ look on 'Byte's face as he tried the fried fish.

* * *

_"That was really fun!"_ 'Byte chirped, holding onto Verakbee's hand as they climbed out of Bulma's car. Bulma looked at him curiously, now realizing that he was speaking Teshion instead of just making strange sounds.

_"Yes it was,"_ Vera' chirred back at him. _"Now what do you say to Bulma?"_

FrohstByte practically bounced over to her and hugged her happily. "Thank you!" He didn't use Teshion luckily and Bulma smiled.

"You're welcome 'Byte," She laughed. "How about you go find Trunks and show him your new clothes?"

When FrohstByte looked at his sister and received a nod he beamed. "Okay! Thank you! Bye!" He waved behind him as he scampered off.

"He is just the most adorable thing…" Bulma laughed again. "Honestly, I've never met any kid that _cute_."

"He's so much happier than he is usually," Verakbee smiled so sweetly that Bulma knew it was genuine. "I guess he just needed some friends."

"Come on," Bulma grinned. "Let's go see if we can watch Trunks squirm. He _hates_ talking about clothes." Verakbee snickered.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and please Read and review! ^^**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! This chapter's finally moving things along, I hope you guys enjoyed the mini arc with the kids. It was definitely fun to play around with. (god those three are cute together) **

**Thank you to The Writer Akayla, rinpup14, serena bady (Guest), Game Berserker, 1 (Guest), Guest (Anonymous), and BleedingSamurai for reviewing last chapter!**

**serena bady: Oh god you flatterer you. *blush* Thanks a lot, and I hope you keep writing your own stories! I'm sure you're doing good and the only way to get better (since nobody's perfect) is to keep at it. So keep on keeping on! (god I'm so cheesy)**

**1: Er, I don't know if that's true or not. Either way 'arcosian' sounds more official like than 'frost demons' and Verakbee and FrohstByte both have lived on an incredibly advanced planet for many years and they're used to using the more 'official' terms. Thanks for the review though! (Also why would you make that pun WHHYYY *dies laughing*)**

**[I own nothing this is all a huge DISCLAIMER]**

* * *

**The New Crew Chapter Eight**

_Verakbee's P.o.V._

Earth was nice. It felt good to be around creatures with a proper sense of individuality, as Teshions were all alike in most ways. It was hard to find a Teshion who had 'different' qualities and even then they went out of their way to group themselves with others with those same qualities. I suspected a latent pack instinct of some sort. Even though there were other creatures too, it was hard to find any great number of them.

Saiyans didn't terribly support individuality either unless you were powerful and at the top of the ranks. They wanted their soldiers to be the same: strong and obedient. On the opposite side DeathTails encouraged such differences. Individuality made one stronger in ways physical strength did not. Though we _were_ trained to pretend our individuality did not exist.

Wouldn't do to reveal _any_ strengths, even if many didn't recognize them.

That mindset, optimally, meant that many Saiyan may _know_ that we are dangerous but they had little to no idea why or how. Saiyan were so strength oriented it was ridiculous! DeathTails weren't physically powerful so they couldn't understand how we were strong!

Humans, on the other hand, respected strength. But they didn't hold it above other pursuits. They _valued_ intelligence and cunning just as much as anything else. It was truly an interesting find, this planet. I was glad that it was left in relative peace.

Speaking of peace, I knew the current one was getting closer to a breaking point. Prince Vegeta had started taking note of my obedience to him and I watched as he slowly began testing his bounds. It was the intelligent thing to do: see how much 'control' he had over a deadly being who was possibly his enemy but also possibly his ally.

Unfortunately I knew he'd come to realize his boundaries were endless. As a DeathTail nothing was too degrading or out of bounds. If it was a situation I did not care for, I still did it. DeathTail discipline was not something to be trifled with.

Though the first big thing he tested me on wasn't even close to what I'd been theorizing.

* * *

"…What." I allowed myself to show a deadpan in expression and tone.

"I understand you are skilled and 'don't need to be strong'." The prince looked somewhat unsure. That was the first time I'd said anything about an order. He probably thought I was planning on refusing. Idiot. "But perhaps with a higher power level you may become moreso." Hmm, so he was making this one sound all 'official'. Good tactic. "The only way to do that is training."

"Why with the namekian?" I raised an eyebrow, keeping the rest of my face cold. Might as well make him sweat while I dug a little bit.

Was he trying to suppress a smirk? He was, wasn't he. "Because if you react and slice off a limb he can regrow it." _'Fle you too, burogh.' _That 'ear incident' was becoming a running joke by now and it was getting annoying. Also did he just _actually_ insinuate that he was frightened of me 'accidentally' cutting off something important?

Success! My superior was frightened of me!

I allowed my amusement to show through, meaning he understood what I'd realized. I wasn't going to say it out loud though. Him wanting to eliminate me as a threat was enough of a compliment to his fear of my skill.

"Does the namekian know about this?" I swapped eyebrows and allowed a head tilt.

"That will be your job to inform him."

Well my illustrious superior was apparently just making me do all the work. It would likely be a job to convince the namekian to assist the one who'd cut off his ear.

"Do you have his location?" Please tell me he'll at least give me that. Please tell me he's not stupid enough to assume I have the time to track down every powerful Kii signature on this planet.

"Yes…" Oh good. He's not that moronic. Now to figure out where the hell this place is.

* * *

Well. I'd been told to not fly up, since it was a test of strength, so climbing the tower it was. With FrohstByte as a backpack.

What? I wasn't leaving him alone even with 'Grr' and 'Tore' more than happy to keep him company. Man those names were cute. Pretty ingenious too. They were mostly created through random inspiration. Hard to decode for someone who doesn't have an in.

The cat was fun. He was moderate to low level relative speed and he had plenty of skill to spare. We'd both had fun. Wasn't even really a spar. Then he'd helped give 'Byte pointers on a few of the moves I'd set him to practicing. I thanked the cat for that, I didn't really know how to teach.

Meeting Dende was surprising. He was just as surprised to see us, especially FrohstByte. He kept giving my charge odd looks. It made me testy.

"…Really?" Piccolo looked close to scowling and his disbelieving deadpan was more than enough tell to show what he thought of the matter.

"Orders." I shrugged.

The namekian narrowed his eyes. "You're… different then you were the last time I saw you. More critical."

"Mission and personal reasons." I replied without pause. I tilted my head. "Is that a problem?"

He chuckled and then looked surprised that he had. "...You're not anywhere near strong enough to do even half the training I do." He finally said, eyes flicking over me with derision. "But I will admit your reflexes are decent for such a pathetic power level."

_'Burighian fleu of a trhunt's rear end!'_ Despite the cursing I was doing mentally I kept my face clear from any reactions. _'__**Lovely**__, another power centered bigot. Let's hope he's not a sexist laug either.'_

"So?" I raised an eyebrow while keeping a cold expression.

"I'm interested in how you pulled off what you did in the banshee's house." Piccolo crossed his arms. "So, if you're not _scared_ of the level of pain you'll be going through while training with me, I'll deal with it."

I straight up laughed in his face. "I'm never scared, especially of pain." I allowed a smirk as he gave me a sadistic look. _'Well fle me, I'm screwed. Flecking Vegeta. I'll sucker punch him the next time I see him.'_

* * *

_No One's P.o.V._

"So, uh, FrohstByte, right?" Dende asked the little arcosian sitting on a bench. Verakbee was talking with Piccolo about something to do with training.

"Mmhm!" 'Byte nodded absently, messing around with a rubix cube Mr. Popo had pulled from somewhere to entertain the kid. "An' you're Dende. An' that's Mr. Popo." He pointed at the man standing nearby.

"Yeah." Dende laughed a little, he was just too cute! "I was wondering if you remembered what happened the other time..?"

"Oh, when you accidentally started talking to me and I was hearing you when you didn't mean to?" 'Byte tilted his head.

"Er… yeah, that. Do you mind if I try checking something?"

"What is it?" FrohstByte finally looked up from the cube, forehead wrinkling as he looked at Dende. He kept turning the cube in his hands even though he wasn't looking.

"I think you might have a Gift." The young namekian said kindly. "Even if you're capable of sensing Kii, the powers I have should have allowed me to remain hidden from anyone. Yet you noticed me and even heard the thoughts that I wasn't projecting."

"Oh, that." 'Byte nodded. "Yeah that's kinda normal."

Dende face faulted and Mr. Popo sweatdropped.

"W-what?" Dende asked as he got back up and sat next to the toddler. "Normal? You mean..?"

'Byte shrugged. "I dunno, but weird stuffs happen with me lots. Sometimes I just Know stuff an' I dunno why. But it's always true and a coupla times cuz I knew stuff I saved people's lives back on Tesh." He nodded as seriously as a toddler could.

Dende blinked and hummed as he thought. "You know, FrohstByte, I'm certain that you _do_ have a Gift of some sort. It might even have to do with the way your Kii seems to be so strange."

"Really?" He looked eager. "Do ya think I'd be able to learn to have it unner control and stuff? Cuz I can't fly since my kii's all weird."

"Maybe, I can't make any promises though." Dende gave him an apologetic look.

'Byte looked put out but then shrugged. "It's okay, everyone on Tesh couldn't figure out what was wrong either. Oh, an' you're gonna haveta ask Vera before trying anything. She's super protective." He looked Dende in the eye with a smile. "She's _always_ keeping me safe and stuff." He turned to Mr. Popo. "Here's your cube thing."

He hopped off the bench and handed the cube back to the man as Vera walked towards them. Dende and Popo both stared at the rubix cube, perfectly aligned with one color per side.

"He wasn't even _looking_ at it the majority of the time he was twisting it." Popo said in amazement, turning the cube to look at it all over.

"I don't think he did it with his brain either." Dende frowned. "He's a cute kid and sensible for his age but he's not really that intelligent I don't think. No, I think he did it with whatever his Gift is."

"Quite the Gift to manipulate chance and luck." Popo observed.

"Indeed." Looking up, Dende wasn't surprised to find that Verakbee had already flown off with her charge in her arms. "I guess I'll have to wait until I see them next to ask her."

"Ask her what?" Piccolo walked over. "If it's about the brat, she threatened to cut off more than an ear if I scared him again. I'm honestly not sure if I'd be able to dodge it."

"Oh?" Popo looked somewhat surprised. "And here I thought you were much more powerful than her."

"I _am_, but she's already caught me off guard once. She might be weak but that doesn't make her any less dangerous." Piccolo looked reluctant to admit this. "Besides, Gohan was telling me that Vegeta himself is _scared_ of her." Now he grinned. "He doesn't have an idea why but I think I do."

"What's that?" Dende asked curiously.

"Her ability to locate and assess weaknesses quickly, for one, though I don't doubt there's far more to it." His recently regrown ear flicked slightly. "When I first startled the brat he screamed and it hurt my ears. She recognized that and reacted accordingly. That kind of thinking is very valuable in a fight. It's good to know I won't have to be teaching her to fight while I train her – just get her stronger."

"You're actually going to train her?" Dende was surprised.

Piccolo's malicious grin didn't inspire anything but pity for the female Saiyan. "If you want to call it that. I told her to come back tomorrow morning early in a fighting gii or similar. You two are going to have to babysit the brat in the meantime."

Popo and Dende traded looks.

"Just let us talk to her about FrohstByte before you try to kill her from overworking her body." Dende sighed. "And don't let her, okay? From what I've seen of Saiyans they'll fight until they're dead from exhaustion."

"She's not an _idiot_, fortunately." Piccolo snorted. "I doubt it would come to that."

* * *

"Say, Verakbee, I just realized something." Bulma pointed a screwdriver at the Saiyan as she walked into the kitchen after a shower. "You can sense Kii."

"Uh, yeah?" Vera looked at her like she'd lost a few bolts. "Also, you need to stop working on machines in the kitchen. It's unsanitary."

"Well all the Saiyan we've seen haven't been able to before they came to Earth," Bulma rubbed her chin as she ignored the latter comment. "So how can you?"

Seeing Vegeta pause in passing by the door, Verakbee smirked and rolled her eyes.

"DeathTails always could." Vegeta could be heard sputtering in the hallway. "Why would we rely on those scouters in the field? They're unreliable, the radio is on too broad of a frequency, and they're far too easy to disable even from a distance."

Bulma stifled giggles as Vegeta punched a wall and stalked away angrily. "You mean to tell me that all the other Saiyan didn't even know it was possible and the DeathTails were doing it all along?"

"Yup." Verakbee looked smug. "Oh, I'll be gone all day tomorrow and for the foreseeable future. I'm training with Piccolo and FrohstByte will be watched by Dende and that Popo fellow nearby."

Bulma blinked. "Wait, training? Why?"

Verakbee shook her head as she ducked into the refrigerator. "Stupid DeathTail pride in following orders, that's why. But I've been intending on doing strength training anyways so this will give me an in on the style of fighting here."

Verakbee sashayed out of the kitchen as Bulma tried processing that.

"…She just pretty much admitted that she's using this as an opportunity to spy on the way the fighters here train." Bulma set the screwdriver down and reached for a notebook. "That needs to be added to the things I know about her…"

Maybe Vegeta _wasn't_ exaggerating about how dangerous Verakbee was.

* * *

**So! Lot's of advancement this chapter and Verakbee acting suspiciously out of character. Or somewhat _more_ in character, either way. Also Vegeta is definitely having a nerve wracking time pushing Vera's buttons. **

**I'm excited to finally introduce 'Byte's 'ability' plot point in more detail than random hints. Any thoughts on that?**

**(I'm so sorry if Dende or Mr. Popo were out of character I'm struggling to remember their personalities)**

**Please Read and Review! Let me know what you guys think about this chapter!**


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